About 2 months ago, I went up to my collection room and spent some time admiring my hoard of TAC Jawas. I’m not entirely sure why, but I just LOVE those new little buggers!

Anyhow, I decided to see what my new little scavengers would look like in a makeshift droid auction in front of their Sandcrawler.

I pulled my Vintage Kenner Radio Controlled Jawa Sandcrawler off the shelf, posed a bunch of droids and TAC Jawas around it... and my heart sank.

That tiny, dinky, out-of-scale, pathetic Sandcrawler looked ridiculous next to my new Jawas! I loved this Sandcrawler as a kid, but now… it just wasn’t working for me.

Anyone that knows ME (and my severe STAR WARS Collector mental illness) knows that I could NOT allow that to stand!!

I immediately got in touch with a model builder friend of mine from South America and commissioned him to build me a NEW Radio Controlled Jawa Sandcrawler toy in correct scale to 3-3/4 inch figures!!

Some detail adjustments to the Sancrawler are currently being finished up, and I will be taking delivery very shortly. I cannot wait!!!

This behemoth measures 29 inches (that’s 2-1/2 FEET) in height, and 61 inches (that’s 5.1 Feet) in length. It features a removable side panel for access to the crawler's ore-processing room, a removable top panel for access to the detailed cockpit, a front loading main ramp into the main hold, and working interior / exterior lights.

I have a feeling my Jawas are going to be VERY happy when “Sandy” arrives.

Holy crap! If you don't mind me asking, about how much does it cost to have something like that made?

Well, admittedly it's pricey! To have one built normally costs $1800 US Dollars with the shipping coming in around $400. And that's BEFORE the RC modifications that I'm building into it!

MY custom Sandcrawler cost me LESS, however. When I contacted my friend in South America about building me one, he gave me the choice of building me a brand new one from scratch (for the prices mentioned above) OR bidding on (and hopefully winning) an already existing (mint) specimen that he had built, and that a friend of HIS was auctioning on Ebay.

I decided to try my luck at the EBAY crawler, figuring that if I lost, I would just have him build me a brand new one at full price.

But as Luck would have it, I won the EBAY crawler for $1200!

This Sandcrawler can now keep the rest of my big vehicles company, including my 6ft long Millennium Falcon!

Some stats about my Custom-built Sandcrawler:

As I mentioned before, her measurements are 29 inches (2-1/2 FEET) in height, and 61 inches (5.1 Feet) in length. It features a removable side panel for access to the crawler's "ore-processing room", a removable top panel for access to the detailed Main Control Overbridge , a front loading main ramp into the main hold, and working interior / exterior lights.

The treads seen in these photos are NOT the final ones that this custom Sandcrawler will sit on.

These treads seen here are solid, in-articulate prop pieces (just like on the OTC Diamonds Exclusive Sandcrawler). They do NOT roll. There are currently some tiny recessed wheels under the Sandcrawler that allow it to be rolled. But that's it.

However, for an additional fee, I have commissioned to have this toy fully converted into a rolling, functioning, steerable RC toy with working treads! (Just like the Lucasfilm model)

For the conversion, we are using the electronic rolling treads from a 1/10th scale RC german tank as the functioning RC platform. There will be one PAIR of rolling treads at each of the Crawler's 4 corners (that's 8 total).

The final treads and the faceplate housings will also be painted in a darker, grimier color than the rest of the crawler for that desert weather-beaten look.

There were some minor inaccurate detail errors evident in the photos of this custom toy (no square window opening on the side of the crawler, etc.), but I've ordered these various errors to be corrected/re-built before shipping.

In the end, the Sandcrawler that I'll receive in another few weeks from South America will be considerably more accurate than the way it appears in these photos.

As awsome as that is i bet it doesnt have a working droid vaccum to suck up R2!!That is amazing, I contimplated having a scale falcon built. If i ever move to a bigger house and have money to spend... Then i'll buy one.

Your going to give Chewie a complex now! I can just see him calling up Owen begging for a commission of this thing.

Ah, I've got NOTHING on Chewie and Owen!! The awesome stuff in those guys' custom collections make me look like an amateur!!

I'm still hoping one day to get a Star Destroyer Bridge built by Owen. I tried to do it about a year ago, but ran out of cash during a house construction emergency. I'm only NOW just getting back on my feet.

2) You can see in the video how fast the tank moves. The Sandcrawler will move somewhat slower due to its considerable weight.

3) When I take delivery of this behemoth, I will GLADLY take additonal photos of the underside. The front mouth loading ramp DOES indeed open up (to load and unload droid inventory, of course) See the attached photo. Also, there are (not one but) three lights on the interior. Additional lights are being added to the exterior as headlights just beneath the main loading ramp.

As awsome as that is i bet it doesnt have a working droid vaccum to suck up R2!!

4) Heh, well you got me there, good buddy. The Jawa's entry hatch and R2-D2 Vaccum Tube (between the giant treads) are currently NOT functioning items.

HOWEVER, these are among the details that I have ordered the builder to modify to be functional. The entry hatch will have a simple door that slides open and closed with a small ladder. And the vaccum tube will extend up and down. Unfortunately, no access into the Sandcrawler's main hold will be available from these two areas, I'm afraid.

Looking at the tank and the treads on the sandscrawler, it looks like there won't be four separate sets of treads. I assume the sandcrawler will pretty much ride on top of the tank. Is that going to change? Due to the weight, are you sure the tank motors will be able to turn with this much payload on top of it?

I wonder how hard it would be to put a small vacuum motor in it. That way it might be able to lift a small vintage r2 if close enough. I wish this was an R/C builders forum. We could get into a very cool conversation about the eletronics for this beast.